Connections
by turtlegirl1999
Summary: Don is about to find out how deep brotherhood really goes. Is it truly based only DNA? This is my second story published but my first story written and does not connect to "Blood" my first story published. Hope you like it! :)


Donatello stood, staring blankly at the samples that sat in front of him. Now, with this new tech that he was able to get from the Kraang, he was able to test the blood of his father, brothers and himself. He wanted to check to make sure there were no unknown diseases that ran through their veins and he was happy to announce that their blood was as abnormally normal as ever; however, there was something very different about Donatello's blood in comparison to his brothers' blood.

Don had always been the odd turtle out for most of his life. Where his brothers were into watching wrestling matches or training or, in Raph's words, "busting heads," Donatello preferred to work on his many inventions or fix things around the lair and, though he would fight for his family and friends in a heartbeat, he disliked fighting unless it was absolutely necessary. He tried to fit in with the rest of his abnormal family, but he just couldn't find connections. Raph and Mikey were always able to play video games together and Leo always could meditate with Splinter, and, though Don did have fun with his brothers, he always questioned his place in his family and whether he was even meant to be with them.

"I am not their brother." Don whispered as not to awaken anyone due to the fact that it was two in the morning. "I am not actually related to them." Donatello stared at the results that seemed to be answering every question he ever asked himself. His brothers' blood was all the same, but his was different. He knew that Splinter's blood was going to be different, but his own blood, his DNA, was supposed to match. Don began crying silently. He knew that he just lost the only real connection that he had with his brothers.

* * *

><p>Don woke up five hours later after falling asleep at his desk. He hoped that everything he just discovered was part of a messed up dream, but he immediately noticed the tall pile of tests and the five test tubes of blood in front of him. He raised his hand to rub his face which he knew must look horrendous after crying for at least two hours. He felt drained both emotionally and physically. Don looked at the tests and wanted nothing more than to rip them up and pretend like he had never seen them, but he couldn't deny what he saw so he hid the many papers deep in the back of his drawer in his desk. Donatello then preceded to the kitchen to get some much needed coffee.<p>

Don's brothers were already there and when they heard Donnie approach they all looked directly at their drained brother. Knowing that Don was usually the early bird, they knew something must be off. Mikey stood making breakfast while Raph and Leo sat at the table.

"You look like shell." Mikey stated, staring at Don. Raph and Leo sent Mikey a conjoined death glare. Mikey made the "I surrender" signal with his arms and turned back to the breakfast he was creating.

"How ya feelin', bro?" Raph asked.

"Fine." Donnie said, a little too harshly. "Just a rough night." Donatello lied as he walked over to make his coffee.

"You sure you're okay, Don? You look like you've been crying. Was there something in the results?" Don cringed at Leo's perceptive accusation.

"All the results were clear. Like I said before I just had a hard time sleeping. It really is no big deal. Now can we drop the subject." Donnie said. The others knew that something was bugging him, but rather than anger the already irritable turtle. They decided to drop the subject knowing that Don would speak when he was ready to.

Training began soon after breakfast. The turtles walked to the dojo together with only three of them speaking the entire away, Don remaining silent. They entered the dojo and went to their normal positions. Splinter was away on a trip to see the Ancient One so that put Leo in charge of the training sessions.

"Today we will be sparring. Weapons included." Leo said, trying to sound like Splinter. "Donatello and I. Raphael and Michelangelo. Begin."

The four turtles began fighting. Leonardo and Donatello fought one another. Leo aiming all of his attacks perfectly, but Donatello, though slightly off balance, blocked all of Leo's attacks with his bo staff. Don took the offense, after Leo had attempted to hit him three times. Don aimed his attacks well but not like Leo. Leonardo swung his katana over his head which Donatello blocked, but, while Don blocked that attack, Leo swept his leg along the ground causing Don to fall on his shell. Leo held his sword above Don's neck so as to call the final blow. Leo ended the match, but Don, in all his anger, kicked Leo in the plastron. Leo reeled backwards and Donatello then swept his leg knocking Leo on his shell. Donatello then sat on top of Leo and planted multiple punches across Leo's face. Raph and Mikey noticed that the fight was getting out of hand and though they had been yelling to Donatello he didn't take notice so, as Donatello punched Leonardo, Mikey and Raph tackled him to the ground. Don fought to get up, but was pinned by the two heavy turtles.

"What the shell was that, Donnie?!" Raph yelled at Don. Donatello soon calmed down and the two heavy turtles got off of him. Mikey walked over to check Leo while Raph and Don stood facing one another. "Well, bro! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Leonardo was now up and when Donatello saw the damage he caused he hung his head in shame._ Nothing is wrong with me. I'm just different._ Don thought to himself. "I-I'm s-sorry." Don stuttered. "YOU'RE SORRY?! YOU COULD HAVE BROKEN LEO'S JAW!" Raph screamed at Donnie. Don's hands turned to fists and his head shot up to look up directly into the eyes of his hot-headed brother. "YOU'RE ONE TO TALK! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH OF YOUR CRUD WE PUT UP WITH!? I DIDN'T BREAK LEO'S JAW! IT GOT OUT OF HAND AND I AM SORRY!" Don stormed out of the room and raced to go topside forgetting the risks of being seen.

"WHAT IS HIS ISSUE?!" Raph yelled to the other two brothers who had watch the angry scene unfold in front of them.

"You didn't have to yell at him like that. He would have stopped." A bruised Leo said. Mikey still supporting him.

"NO HE WOULDN'T HAVE, FEARLESS! HE TOOK IT TOO FAR! HE WASN'T STOPPING!" Raph exclaimed. Leo hated when Raph called him "Fearless."

"Something is wrong with Donnie. I know it. Donnie would never do that unless something was really bothering him," said the usually joyous turtle who now held a worried frown on his face.

" I know, Mikey." Leo said, with the same expression as Mikey. "We've gotta find him before he hurts himself."

" Yeah, and then I'm gonna knock some sense into that big brain of his." Raph said, acting out what he would do to him with his hands.

Donatello felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he ran from rooftop to rooftop, hardly noticing the long streams of tears that were pouring from both of his eyes. _What did I do?_ Don thought to himself. _How could I hurt Leo? He is my..._ Donatello refused to even think the word brother. This side of New York was always quiet, but had more life in it than usual due to it being around nine o'clock in the morning. Don stopped his run so his mind could catch up with him. Guilt, anger, and sadness weighed on him and pushed him to his knees where he readily broke down.

Raph, Leo, and Mikey, after deciding to chase down their bo wielding brother, had a rather difficult time keeping up with Donatello. It took them about five minutes to locate their fleeing brother. The trackers embedded in the turtles' "Shell Cells" made it quite easy to locate Don; however, catching him was different. Leo, still groggy from the fight, was slightly slower than usual and Raph and Mikey, being who they were, refused to race too far ahead of him. Don was fueled on adrenaline, however, so, unlike his slow brothers, he was racing at breakneck speed. When Don had finally stopped, the three brothers, not wanting to have him flee in fear, came up behind him slowly, sticking to the shadows, but Don's ninja skills did not fail him. He sensed them and immediately rose from his broken down state and took the offensive stance with his bo, tears still rolling down his, now, angry face.

"Woah. Don? It's just us bro." Mikey said as he appeared out of the shadows, soon followed by Raph and Leo.

"What the shell are you guys doing here?" Donatello said as he slid his bo onto the sheath that lay on his back, quickly wiping away his tears.

"We could ask you the same thing." Leo said, taking on his overprotective/impatient brother stance. "What are you doing up here, Donnie?" Leo noticed the tears that sat in the corners of Don's eyes. His stance softened, laying a hand on Donatello's shoulder who flinched in reply. "What's wrong?" Leo asked, concern obviously surrounding his voice.

Donnie brushed Leo's hand off his shoulder. "I'm fine. I wish you would stop asking me that. I had a rough night. That's all."

"Don. We know you're lying. What the shell is wrong with ya?" Raph said, with a little less bite then usual.

"Nothing is wrong with me. Now would you just leave me alone." Don said. He turned to make a run for it, but was stopped by his younger brother yanking on his arm.

"Please, Bro." Mikey said, pleadingly.

"Don't call me that." Don said in a mumbling voice. Remaining in his running stance and not turning around.

"What?" The three confused turtles spoke.

Don yanked his arm away from Mikey, startling the young turtle. Turning around to face his "brothers" head on. "Don't call me bro!" Don yelled before he began running away. He didn't get very far in his emotional state before he was tackled to the rooftop. Leo forgot all of his bruises and latched himself to Don's arms. Raph took Don's legs and Mikey took the shell. Don tried to get up but he was pinned.

"Now you're gonna talk, Don. Even if we have to keep you pinned down ta do it." Raph threatened. Don knew that there was no way out for him. It was either speak or stay crushed under three giant mutant turtles.

"Alright. I concede but, it is a little hard to speak with you guys taking all my air." The brothers immediately got up, knowing the honesty behind Donnie's voice. He got up soon after.

"Now. Talk, brainiac." Raph said.

"What's wrong with me callin' you 'bro'?" Mikey asked, a little hurt by his immediate older brother's reaction to being called bro.

"Because," Donnie started, making his hands into fists and having some tears (which he didn't know he had) escape. "I'm not." Don now hugged himself.

"What are you talking about?" Leo said, very confused.

"I'm not your brother." Don stated, unable to hold back his tears anymore.

"WHAT?!" Raph and Mikey yelled. Leo stood, silently.

"You are, too, our brother, Donnie." Mikey said. "Where is this coming from?"

"Yeah." Raph agreed, unsure of what to say.

"From the blood tests. All of your blood types and DNA samples matched and mine... didn't. I'm the odd turtle out. The adopted brother. The different one."Don said. _Again._

"That doesn't matter you are our brother. There is nothing that can change that." Leo said. He walked over to Don and tried to reach for him, but Don pulled back.

"You guys don't get it. You all fit into this masterful puzzle and I just don't." Don said.

"Ya are our brother, Donny-Boy." Raph said, in a very unusual comforting tone.

"I wish I could believe you guys. I really do." Don said, shaking his head.

"What can we do to convince you that we are your bros?" Mikey asked.

"Tell me my favorite color before we got our masks from the Ancient One. Tell me what my first invention was. Tell me what my favorite soda is." Don said.

"How are trivia questions bout yerself gonna answer anything?" Raph said, irritably.

"Answer and I'll tell you." Don said. He had a plan blooming. These questions were going to tell if his so called brothers knew him at all.

"Fine. Yer favorite color was green." Raph stated.

"Your first invention was the toaster." Leo spoke.

"Your favorite soda is Dr. Pepper." Mikey said. Don looked down at the ground and just shook his head.

"You got all three questions wrong. My favorite color was orange, my first invention was the Shell Cell, and my favorite soda is root beer. Brothers should know something about each other." Don said. He hated being proven wrong but for once in his life that is all that he wanted. "How can you call me your brother when you don't even know me?"

The three turtles looked at each other. Did they really get all of the questions wrong? The guilt that filled them was heartbreaking. Their family was small and the fact that one of their own was completely unknown to them hurt more than a knife through the heart. An eerie silence came until Mikey spoke.

"We're sorry, Don. We really are." The orange banded turtle was almost in tears himself. Leo looked down at the ground in shame but Raph just looked angry beyond compare.

"Put out yer hand." Raph spoke to Don. The three turtles all gave him sad but confused looks. "Just do it."

The purple banded turtle did as he was told. Raph removed one sai from his belt and sliced Don's hand on the palm. He hissed in pain and looked at his elder brother with a glint of anger. The other two watched in minor shock. Raph then did the same to himself.

"Leo, Mikey." The two put out their hands trying to find the point to all of this. The red banded turtle, after slicing his siblings hands, returned the sai to its place.

"Now we are bleeding. What does that do?" Don asked.

"Ya think that because of some stupid questions that doesn't make us brothers. I am truly sorry that we didn't know how to answer yer personal trivia and I am positive we'll get some long speech about how we need to know each other better and that is important but that ain't what makes us brothers. This is." Raph said referencing the blood. "Ya may not be the same blood type er whatever but ya still bleed, Don. Ya still are a ninja. Ya still are a mutant turtle. Look at our hands and tell me we ain't brothers. We are all different. That is what balances us. Some stupid genetic crud ain't gonna change the fact that we would sacrifice ourselves for ya. We have gone through too much not to be brothers. We stand together. We fight together. We bleed together. If that ain't brotherhood I don't know what is."

The three other turtles stared in shock at their usually hot-headed, stubborn brother. A moment of silence lingered.

"Wow. Raph that was actually... thoughtful." Leo said, smiling at his brother.

"I'm not completely made of stone." Raph said, smirking back.

"Alright. I think this calls for a turtle group hug!" Mikey yelled, yanking all of his brothers into a giant turtle hug that resulted in all the turtles hugging him and each other.

Eventually, Raph broke the hug. "Alright lets get home." Raph said.

"Whoa. My big brother being a total sap and than actually wanting to go home rather than find some heads to bust. Who are you and what did you do with Raph?" Mikey said.

"Oh. Shut up ya dork." The red banded turtle yanking Mikey into a head lock and walking towards home.

"You sure you going to be okay Don?" Leo said.

"Yeah." Don looked at his bleeding hand. He had finally found an unbreakable connection he had with his brothers. Closing his hand, he looked at Leo. "I think so."

Leo slung an arm over the purple banded turtle and they followed their brothers to home.

**Hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading. Please review, comment, criticize. :D TURTLE HUGS!**


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